Page 14 of No Reason to Trust

“We’ll figure it out,” Livvy said. He liked how confident she sounded. How certain she was that they’d suss out Nelson’s strategy and come up with a plan to blow it up.

Livvy shook her head slowly. “There’s nothing even a little subtle about his plan. Nelson is sending you out to be killed.”

“Yeah, I figured as much,” Jake said, his gut twisting into a knot.

Livvy leaned closer, locking her gaze with his. “We need to talk to Diana Redfield,” she said. “Tell her what Nelson wants you to do, including the stuff about knocking those small business guys around.”

“That’s probably a good idea, but what does that get us?” Jake said. “We don’t want Nelson wrapped up too soon. We want to figure out who his buddies are in the Bureau. And in order to do that, we can’t let him know we’re looking into him. Make sure he thinks I’m on this undercover job. On my way to an early grave.”

“We can come up with a story for Nelson,” Livvy said slowly. “Figure out a way Nelson and the unsubs might signal their plans. And you, being the smart, intuitive agent that you are, smelled a rat. Backed off and watched them. Figured out what their game was. And how to stymie them. When you don’t die, Nelson will freak out. Might even take matters into his own hands. If he does that, we have him. Because from now on, other than when you’re at headquarters, we’re attached at the hip.”

Jake nodded slowly. “Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. Maybe I tell Nelson that I’m doing some surveillance work in Sheepshead Bay. Watching the address I’m supposed to go to. Seeing who goes in and out. Figure out how many people are usually there. The kinds of things any undercover person would want to know before they risk their neck.”

“Do you have the address you’re supposed to go to?” Livvy asked.

“Nelson hasn’t given it to me yet. But he’ll have to do it soon. I’m gonna tell him that I’m going to do surveillance. See what’s what. He wouldn’t’ expect me to go into a job cold, without checking it out first.”

“Yeah, you’re right about that.” Livvy took another gulp of beer. “How about I try to set up a meeting with Diana for tomorrow? Maybe dinner somewhere away from the district? A restaurant where FBI agents wouldn’t usually go?”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Jake said. This whole ‘assignment’ sat in his stomach like cannonballs. “It’s not that I want to bitch to Diana about what Nelson’s doing. I just want her to know what’s up.” He studied Livvy for a moment, reassured by her calm façade. She wasn’t freaking out, and he liked that in a partner. “I think, with what Nelson said to me today, after what he did to you, Diana’ll realize he’s a problem. A likely Russian asset. And she has the authority to look into his family. See where he was born. Where his parents were born. Check his bank accounts. See if he has unexplained money somewhere.”

Jake swallowed another mouthful of beer. “I like the way you think, Williams. Yeah, see if Diana can meet us somewhere for dinner. Or even lunch. Somewhere that agents don’t usually go.”

Livvy leaned back in her chair. Smiled. “I’ll call her right away. Maybe I can catch her before she leaves tonight.”

“Sounds good,” Jake said. “And it feels like we’re taking away Nelson’s control. I like that. I want to keep him on his back foot. Off balance. Maybe he’ll make a mistake. Give himself away.”

“We can only hope,” Livvy said.

Jake finished his beer and set the bottle on the table. “Go ahead and call Diana. Let’s get the ball rolling.”

Chapter 6

After mentally preparing for the coming conversation, Livvy opened her phone’s contact list. She hit the entry for Diana Redfield, put the phone on speaker and listened as Diana’s phone rang.

Finally, Redfield answered. “Director Redfield,” she said, her voice crisp and confident.

“Director Redfield, this is Olivia Williams. I was an FBI agent before I left to work for Blackhawk Security. I…”

Redfield interrupted. “Hi, Olivia. I remember you. I hope you’re calling to see if you can get your old job back.”

Olivia’s shoulders relaxed. “Sorry, I’m not looking to return to the FBI. I’m very happy at Blackhawk Security. But I’m in Washington D.C. right now, working as a backup for Jake Dunbar. He’s with me, and you’re on speaker.”

There was a long moment of silence on the line. Finally Redfield said, “Mel called to arrange to have you backup Jake. But she didn’t tell me why one ofouragents isn’t backing him up.”

Olivia’s toes curled in her socks. “That’s a very good question, and it’s one of the reasons I called. Jake and I need to talk to you about some concerns we have.”

There was another long beat of silence. Finally Redfield said, “Can’t Agent Dunbar go to his supervising agent with his concerns?”

Olivia cleared her throat. “No, he can’t. His supervising agent is…” She took a deep breath. “We believe he’s part of the problem.”

She heard Diana suck in a breath. After a long moment, she said, “Yes, we definitely need to meet.”

Livvy said, “We were hoping we could meet with you tonight, for dinner, somewhere outside the D.C. area. Neither Jake nor I think it would be smart for other agents to see us talking to you.”

The line was dead silent, as if all the air had been sucked out of this room and Diana’s. Then Diana said, “This sounds extremely serious.”

Livvy cleared her throat. “Jake and I both believe that it is. And since we don’t know who’s safe, we decided we needed to talk directly with you. We both trust you and believe you have the best interests of the Bureau at heart.”

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